In season two, episode one, of The Outlaws, a Sunday-night comedy (BBC One) about a group of losers doing community service together, there is a scene in which gnarly old rogue Frank is about to let his family down yet again by selfishly skipping the country. A line of dialogue simply requires him to tell a pal that he’s taking a taxi to the airport later, but the reading of the line is extraordinary. “Got a few hours to kill!” says Frank, with a flaming charisma that hints at unimaginable mischief within that period. “Then CABBING! Direct to Heathrow airport!”
That is because Frank is played by Christopher Walken, whose demonic sparkle is one of the many reasons why The Outlaws is much more than a bare synopsis suggests. Co-created and largely written by Stephen Merchant, it continues a trend for widescreen comedy thrillers that started in 2013 with The Wrong Mans, the success of which inspired lesser imitators – Witless on BBC Three, Bounty Hunters on Sky One – to toss bumbling sitcom putzes into peril, making them face off inexpertly against dangerous criminals. Many of those shows were annoyingly wacky and agonisingly contrived; The Outlaws, blessed with the writing nous and Hollywood clout that an A-lister like Merchant brings, is the first in a while to get the right blend of small-time pratfalls and twisting, propulsive, cinematic narrative.
